Water conditions have made offshore tuna angling very difficult much of the summer, with a few notable exceptions. Yesterday, August 23, Markus Medak, New Lo-An owner-operator, picked up 12 bluefin tuna, mostly on bait, and an albacore on the troll. He said he found 68-degree blue off-color water and picked at the fish throughout the day on his day and a half trip with 16 anglers.

Two three-day boats took the inside route to find some decent fishing. They found all species biting on the bottom and the surface near Canoas, where the water was clean and 69 degrees.

Fishing on The Ridge and Alijos Rocks has been pretty darn good, with some tuna being located northwest of The Ridge. That offers hope for a decent fall season, especially if a hurricane should push some warm water up this way.

Family Fun

Roy Rose took his Royal Polaris three-day anglers inshore near Canoas for some fun fishing. Anglers caught red rockfish, yellowtail, bonito, kelp bass and sand bass, barracuda and several other species, on bait and iron.

The boat docked at Fisherman’s Landing August 24. Charlie Bullan of Fairfield won first place for a 34-pound yellowtail. He said he got it with a sardine on a 6/0 Mustad hook, 30-pound Izorline on a Talica 12 reel and a Calstar 800 H rod.

Joe Weimer of Pleasant Hill found a 22-pound yellowtail, good for second place. Hal J. Borg won third place for a 21.2-pound yellow and posed with his son Hal L. Borg and grandson Tanner, for a family yellowtail lineup.

Brian Evans docked Spirit of Adventure after a three-day trip with 21 anglers to Canoas and below for some good fishing on forkies.

It was an Avet Reels trip, and rep Ben Frazier was aboard. Ben got the third-place fish.

“We went in on the beach,” he said, “and we had some really good fishing for bass and bonito and some yellowtail. We looked around a bit and found a nice big school of yellowtail and got about 70 in an hour and a half. They bit on bait and the yoyo and surface jigs.”

Vin Ridgeway of Ventura caught a 34-pound yellowtail and won first place. He said he got his prizewinner with a sardine on a 2/0 Mustad hook and 30-pound blue Izorline. He used a Penn 545 reel and a Calstar 800 M rod, and got the fish to gaff after a ten-minute scrap.

Mitch Aronson of Las Vegas won second place for a 28.2-pounder, and Ben Frazier of Oxnard took the third-place 26.7-pounder.

Nearly 300 miles south of San Diego, Searcher skipper Aaron Remy reported August 23:

“On our first day at San Benitos for the afternoon we had a great time and we're all stoked! We had some steady action from the time we got here at about 4 p.m. until dark.

"Most of our fish are 15 to 18 pounds, with a couple of nicer-sized ones in the mix. So we're headed to Cedros to target some premiums. All the techniques worked today: yoyo jigs, sardines, and surface lures.”